-
Helter skelter: Osceola's Trevelin Queen (21), D.J. Wilson (5) and Kevon Harris (8) try to shut down Long Island guard's Jacob Gilyard's passing lanes in Friday's NBA G League Eastern Conference semifinal. PHOTO/KATIE WILLIAMS -
Magic center D.J. Wilson returned from a stint with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and scored 21 points in the Magic's losing effort Friday. PHOTO/KATIE WILLIAMS
When the Osceola Magic climbed to within two points after a roaring Trevelin Queen dunk with one minute remaining in the NBA G League Eastern Conference Semifinals against Long Island, Silver Spurs Arena was rocking as if a tremor had struck Kissimmee, instead of New York.
The Nets answered with their own earthquake in Keon Johnson (26 points) who hit a clutch uncontested three-pointer with 52 seconds left to propel Long Island to a 120-112 playoff win over the top-seeded Magic.
“In these playoffs its win or go home,” Magic guard D. J. Wilson, who scored 21 points, noted. “You can’t be tired. It’s a matter of executing and making plays down the stretch which they did more of than we did.”
The Magic were down eight points with 3:35 left when Queen was originally fouled and preparing to shoot free throws. The call was overturned and ruled a block with a jump ball and Long Island won the tip. The block was one of 19 Magic turnovers in the game compared to just six by the Nets.
“I think we had far too many turnovers compared to them," Wilson remarked. "I felt that down the stretch we couldn’t put anything together, especially when they made their runs. By the time we tried to play the right way to our ability it was too late."
Mac McClung scored on a steal to key a 6-0 run including a Wilson layup and dunk to cut the deficit to two points. The Nets’ Kaiser Gates finally broke the scoring run with a hook shot.
Osceola has a history of coming back in the second half this season, but Friday the fourth quarter, especially the start, doomed the franchise. The Magic were outscored 35-24 in the fourth quarter and did not score a field goal for the first five minutes of the period. Long Island went on a 11-1 run to start the fourth quarter. Osceola was held scoreless for over three minutes until they scored their first point of the quarter on a Queen free throw after the Nets were called for defensive three seconds. Queen also ended the scoring draught to start the fourth quarter with a layup after five minutes of play; scoring seven points in just over a minute to cut the Magic deficit to five points with four minutes left in the game.
McClung had 29 points and Queen 26 to lead the scoring for Osceola.
“This is the best team I’ve been a part of to be a point guard," McClung said of the squad’s balanced scoring most of the season. “It was a challenge to me at first. You have guys on this team that were G League MVPs like [Queen] and first round picks like [Wilson]. Great things like us being the one seed do not happen if those guys do not feel confident in me.”
“I wanted us to go out there and come back together," Green said of his mindset during the 11-1 run by the Nets. “I feel we are the most together team in the league and just needed to run the game plan.”
Down 10 with 7:09 left in the third quarter, the Magic rallied to take the lead with 38 seconds left in the period on a McClung three-pointer 85-83. After the Nets’ Jacob Gilyard (28 points) tied the game at the free throw line, McClung hit a driving layup and got fouled, and hit the free throw with 0.2 seconds left to give the Magic an 88-85 lead after three quarters.
The first quarter set the tone for the game. It rained three-pointers for much of the period as the teams raced up and down the court to a 28-28 tie after the frantic pace with the teams shooting a paltry combined 7-for-22 on three-pointers. The Nets took the lead at the half 63-57, following another fast-paced physical quarter.
“Offensive rebounding hurt us in the first half” a dejected Osceola coach Dylan Murphy said. “Credit to our guys we put ourselves into position in the fourth quarter. [The Nets] are super physical and tough. It’s easy to say X, Y, Z went wrong, but sometimes you need to see the ball go in the hoop.”
NOTES: The Nets beat the Capital City Go Go’s, 120-118, in the play-in game on Tuesday to advance to the NBA G-League Eastern Conference Semifinals…. The attendance for the game was 2,912 fans… McClung was presented with the NBA G League Most Valuable Player Award before the game.
